


Such Deliberate Disguises

by shapechanger



Series: Late Nights and Early Mornings [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Tonks, F/M, Fluff, Humor, In which jokes concerning buttocks remaining attached are made, Mixed Signals, Remus is unconsciously charming, Sirius never learns, Social Awkwardness, Taking names and kicking ass
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-07-23 20:16:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7478472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shapechanger/pseuds/shapechanger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tonks unintentionally stumbles upon a closed Ministry file relating to Death Eater activities while reviewing existing cases. The contents reveal a precarious situation that could easily cause an international incident if it continues without intervention. When the file is passed to Mad-Eye Moody, his response is to coordinate two teams in order to avert potential disaster; pairing off Remus Lupin and Tonks to observe Thorfinn Rowle, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Bill Weasley to watch Antonin Dolohov.</p><p>Increasingly distracted by his growing feelings towards Tonks, Remus endeavours to keep a clean dividing line between their working relationship and the warmth that lingers in her presence. All too soon, he encounters complications.</p><p>[Intended to be read in sequence with the rest of the Late Nights and Early Mornings series, but can be read as stand-alone if preferred. This ignores the canon that Dolohov escaped from Azkaban in January 1996, because I am terrible at timelines and got mixed up. Instead, it occurs a few months earlier.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ascertaining Intentions

The bathroom carried the scent of raspberries when Remus entered it, intending to go for his morning shower before the rest of the house woke up. Being the ones who were generally awake until odd hours or up earlier because they couldn't sleep any longer at headquarters, he and Tonks had settled into an unspoken schedule of baths and showers that often left him inhaling the lingering remnant of her shampoo. He winced at himself for the realisation that he was giving the matter far more attention than he should have, had been paying that kind of attention to many things since the night they'd stumbled to Yorkshire and fallen asleep in his bed. Nothing had come of it, they'd both been exhausted and neither of them were the kind of people to take advantage of such a situation. 

Nonetheless, when Remus had woken the next morning to find Tonks sleepy and lovely in his arms, hair the colour of wild strawberries and tousled ( _I like her hair tousled_ ), he'd wanted to stay in bed with her and simply sleep the entire day away. Unfortunately, even on a day where neither of them had to be at work or at Grimmauld Place on duty, they still had things to accomplish. The price of being in the Order. So he'd quietly slipped from the covers and made her a warm drink, letting her rest a bit longer given the previous night's ordeal, something that she still hadn't talked about in any detail. She'd spent the day at his house, curled up in the armchair with a few incident reports to write, had made him laugh by spelling a paper aeroplane in his direction that unfolded into a note that simply said _Tea?_ on it. Tonks had got up and made it, not a single thing knocked over, and it had been nice to have someone remind him that he needed to take breaks, to have someone there at all. To have her there, particularly. She had left when the late evening drew in again, and the house had seemed suddenly emptier without the vivid sound of her voice and her laughter. 

Now, in the present at Grimmauld, Remus set the shower to as hot as it would go before he climbed in, letting the water soak into muscles made tense by the unforgiving mattresses in most of the guest rooms and tried to put the conundrum of Tonks out of his head, largely unsuccessfully. His neck and shoulders both cracked faintly when Remus shifted, causing his expression to resolve into a scowl, one that no one was around to see. "For Merlin's sake," he muttered to himself. "Sad when sleeping on the ground would be preferable to sleeping on that sack of concrete for yet another night." He doubted that Tonks had slept much better than he had; the house creaked above their heads whenever there happened to be a strong wind, and both of them were relatively light sleepers unless they were exhausted. When he felt himself finally starting to relax beneath the heat of the water, his mood began to improve in slow increments. 

The previous night had been filled with unwelcome dreams (he refused to call them nightmares) that made the back of his neck itch with paranoia, jolting him from sleep and prompting him to immediately draw his wand. There was nothing for Remus to fight upon waking, leaving him to slump back into his blankets with an air of exhaustion and an excess of useless adrenaline. He'd gotten up to check on Tonks, had heard her moving about in her room, but hadn't opted to disturb her. Precisely why he'd gone to check on her at all was something that he pushed to one side in his head, not prepared to deal with it then and there. _Stupid, repetitive dreams that get me nowhere._ Now, in the shower and left with the faint tinge of the scent her hair would carry, he put his face directly into the spray and refused to acknowledge further trains of thought.

When Remus exited the bathroom some fifteen minutes later, he winced at the volume of sound that he heard coming from the kitchen. Fully dressed and hair damp, he went downstairs nonetheless, finding it crowded with people either preparing breakfast or eating it. Searching for Tonks, not finding her, he felt his mood plummet, again without being willing to fully acknowledge the reason why. When Mundungus Fletcher shoved past him, not looking where he was going and leaving the distinct waft of cheap pipe tobacco in his wake, an uncharacteristically irritated expression was directed at the other man before Remus decided that today was definitely not the day to linger at headquarters. Unfortunately, Mad-Eye had other ideas, hadn't turned around but addressed him nonetheless. "Ah, Lupin, good that you're here, going to need you in a minute. Stick around a bit, blighty weather out there and might have something of interest."

Raining. Of course it was raining, it was England, it _always_ rained at the drop of a hat. "Right you are," Remus replied, leaning in the doorway, just about repressing the urge to sigh in general exasperation. When Mad-Eye finally showed signs of exiting the kitchen, he moved, following in the other man's wake, his steps nearly soundless in comparison to the thunk of cane and artificial leg. "What's afoot, then?" he queried as they moved towards the lounge.

"Tonks landed on something at the Auror office that she quite definitely wasn't supposed to know about." At this, Moody produced a document folder that was clearly marked as an upper classification level, intended only for the eyes of senior Ministry personnel. It was also, tellingly, marked as closed, indicating that the matter had been dealt with or that the information therein was no longer relevant. "Fortunately, she was quick enough to duplicate the relevant file and hide it. She handed it straight to me, which was for the better, because now it can be dealt with before it gets out of hand." When Remus opened it, he let out a low whistle at the contents. "And we're sure that this isn't a plant of any description?" he asked, not happy about querying Tonks' find, but knowing that the question needed to be asked regardless, that it would be noticed if he didn't.

"Positive." Moody's expression was grim, but Remus dropped his eyes and refocused on what he was reading. The file contained extensive plans for large potions warehouses to be built off the grid, hinting at the possibility of experimentation as the potential locations mentioned were in low population density rural areas, a few scribbled notes concerning the duplication of potions. The project breached multiple laws concerning building magical settlements at a glance, and more still concerning the manufacture of potions. These details would certainly have been a serious concern if considered individually, but it wasn't until Remus read further that the significance of all the combined elements hit him. The signatures of receipt on the completed drawings from the architects held no Ministry stamps or approvals at all that Remus had encountered before, so they weren't certified Ministry files, appeared merely to have been discovered by the Ministry, spuriously investigated and then hidden from view. It was doubtful at best that this was what had actually occurred, the concealment of such important information could easily have been aided and abetted by internal personnel. He stiffened when he reached the printed names beneath the signatures. "Thorfinn Rowle and Antonin Dolohov respectively were known to use these aliases, years ago," he said, voice holding a coldness that only a select few knew him to be capable of. "Where did Tonks find this?"

"She and Kingsley were called in early this morning to do some urgent profiling on a select list of criminals, meaning that they needed the archives to review all of the relevant case information." Moody paused. "I don't think whoever marked this as closed accounted for how thorough those two are when they do a sweep. She found sealed files, some older, some more recent, in a section where they clearly weren't expected to be found. She duplicated the files and resealed them as she found them."

"This is..." Remus stopped mid-sentence, before he found the words. "Alastor, this could be disastrous. At best, they can make enough money to buy themselves resources. At worst-"

"At worst, they could flood the market with flawed product and cause much bigger problems, or so Tonks concluded," Moody interrupted, and Remus was thankful for that, that they had been on a similar train of thought. "It _will_ be disastrous if we don't do something about it, which is why I've instructed Tonks to report back here as soon as she's done at the Ministry." The older man handed Remus a scrap of parchment with an address written on it. "This was Rowle's last known location, and the two of you are the best chance we've got on finding out what he's up to. We can't go for the warehouses directly, not yet, we don't have them definitively pinpointed and we definitely don't have the numbers to handle it safely. That'll have to involve the Auror strike teams, but not until we have what we need. In the meantime, I don't want Rowle or Dolohov so much as sneezing without us knowing about it." The words were accompanied by a ferocious scowl; the escape of Dolohov had been suppressed in wizarding media at the time of its occurrence, but the Order had managed to narrow down his location and eventually found out precisely where the man was hiding. Though they hadn't yet been able to move openly in order to bring him back in, this was precisely the sort of opportunity that Mad-Eye had likely been waiting for to justify it.

"Who-?" Before Remus could complete his question, Moody answered it. "Kingsley and someone else will be tracking Dolohov. Dolohov's a known problem, we've got an idea of his strengths and weaknesses. We don't know anywhere near enough about Rowle. When everyone returns tonight, we'll discuss this properly, but I didn't want you coming in as the only person without the pertinent information. Kingsley is updating Bill Weasley."

"Molly's not going to be happy."

"Neither will Arthur," Moody responded. "But there's nothing for it, we can't send anyone alone and I make too much noise. We need Arthur where he is and no one else can be spared, they don't have the freedom to move around at the moment." There was a note of irritation to the observation, and Remus knew that suggesting silencing charms for Moody's leg was impractical in this instance as they would need refreshing. "Tonks may not be ideal for stealth, but there's no one like her for hiding in plain sight. Figure out a strategy with her when she gets back, once we've all discussed it."

Remus nodded briefly, but there was more on his mind, a question that he soon voiced. "Why me?" he asked, and it was clear from the tone that he wasn't giving vent to a complaint, but actually wanted to know the answer.

"Because you're one of our best duellists if anything goes wrong," Moody responded. "And your skills and Tonks' should balance out well, given that you're rather better at stealth and she's as good at physical combat as she is with magic. If he bolts, you should be able to detain him with minimal damage between you."

It was well-reasoned, and Remus nodded, trying to ignore the distinct notion that the idea pleased him, rather more than it should have. "I'll see you all this evening, then."

***

Remus knew when Tonks had entered the building from the sound of Mrs. Black's shrieking. The insults usually variously involved Tonks' clumsiness, ability (shapeshifters weren't looked upon kindly by the Most Noble House of Black, it seemed), parentage and general appearance, and were usually met with a bang of the curtains being spelled shut and the occasional muttered swear word. This time, the noise was abruptly cut off, leaving only an eerie silence; eventually broken by the questioning sound of Sirius' voice. His words carried up the stairs as Remus paused on the landing. "What did you do, Tonks?"

Tonks' tired voice followed. "Spelled a gag onto the painting. Can't believe I didn't think of it earlier. It won't last forever, the portrait's spell-resistant or something I think, but it'll at least shut her up temporarily." There was a muffled sound of Sirius guffawing before he could hear the curtains of the portrait being closed, and Remus had to chuckle to himself. It was such an obvious solution, and yet none of them had hit on it, and Tonks had. Enchanted portraits had a will of their own, and it was likely that Walburga Black had indeed done something to make sure nothing permanent could happen to hers, but for the elderly and cantankerous pureblood to be silenced by someone she invariably shrieked ear-burning slurs at held a certain amount of justice in Remus' mind. As he came down the stairs, Tonks and Sirius both looked up, one with a smile and hair a darker purple than usual, the other with a sudden look of mischief that didn't bode well. Despite that, he was pleased to see both of them. 

Sirius hadn't emerged from his room much that day, had answered Remus distractedly when asked how he was, his mind clearly elsewhere. He'd checked in once or twice to make sure that he was all right, had found him uncharacteristically head-deep in books. Given that Sirius and James had both had the uncanny ability to fly through exams at school, blessed with good memories, to see his old friend thus occupied was unusual, but the enquiry had only gotten a response of, "I'll let you know if it comes to anything, Moony, all right?" before Sirius had gone back to reading.

"Evening both," he said as he reached the bottom step. "I must say the silence is oddly golden tonight."

Both of them snorted outright at the observation, clear as it was that he'd overheard what Tonks had done. "About time someone shut the old bag up," Sirius commented. "Service to the wizarding world at large, that was, or at least the small group of it living in this house." He doffed an imaginary hat in Tonks' direction, inciting another laugh and an explanation.

"Merlin, I was just too tired to deal with her this evening. Annoyance apparently breeds solutions, even if temporary."

"Are you going to be all right for tonight, Tonks?" Remus asked, a note of concern in his voice. If it had been anyone else, she likely would have bristled at them, but he knew how she reacted when tired and what was considered an unwelcome step too far on his part. This wasn't it.

"I'll have to be," she said, not seeing the quizzical expression on Sirius' face as he glanced between them. When he lifted an eyebrow, Remus realised too late that he'd put two and two together and come to the incorrect conclusion. Thankfully, Tonks had spotted the look as well and elbowed him promptly. "It's a _mission_ , idiot. We got paired off."

"Is that what they call it these days?" The teasing note to Sirius' voice made Remus shut his eyes in despair. They weren't going to hear the end of this so long as he was in that sort of mood, most likely, at least not tonight, and there was sure to be another remark to greet them later when they got back. As it turned out, Sirius wasn't finished. "Is that what you call all those cosy late-night chats in the kitchen and disappearing and not coming back until morning on and off, Moony? Because I might have to have a talk with you about your intentions towards my cousin if you keep it up."

Indignant, embarrassed and momentarily speechless, Remus glared at Sirius, whose grin only widened when a denial wasn't the immediate response. He had to bite his tongue in order to prevent himself from saying something much sharper than the situation actually warranted, and was quite proud of himself for the composed reply. "Even if it was the way you've just worded it, Padfoot, it would still be no one else's business, including yours."

"Also, oi," Tonks interrupted. "The only person who gets to have conversations about intentions towards me is _me_." She'd coloured up as well, quite literally, the tips of her hair slowly but surely turning pinker by the moment, and the unwelcome thought occurred to Remus that perhaps she hadn't wanted other people to know that they were close. "In any case, this mission is important and this is damned unprofessional. We've got a meeting in about five minutes and much bigger things to worry about tonight."

Objective achieved in gaining a reaction from both of them, Sirius merely continued to grin unrepentantly. "You two are no fun, but fine, go be responsible adults for a while and try to set the world to rights. I'll do my best to hold the fort down here." After making the jibe, in spite of his levity, Sirius' expression sobered, shifting from easy mockery to actual concern and slightly reducing Remus' musings of whether throttling him would be a good plan. "Do you want me to wait up?"

Remus and Tonks exchanged glances. "We'll wake you if there's anything that needs dealing with," Tonks responded, resting a hand to his shoulder. "Besides, you've got your project and all, and that must be taking it out of you. Do you need me on that this weekend? I'm off-duty."

"I think I'm good for now, but I'll let you know if that changes." It was only then that Remus registered how tired Sirius looked, and decided to question him and Tonks both about the mentioned project at the first convenient opportunity. Apparently sensing the line of Remus' thoughts, Sirius held a hand up in a plea for clemency. "I'll tell you tomorrow, Moony, but not tonight; offer still stands, though. Make sure you two wake me if you need to."

At that moment, there was the faint clamour of someone outside the front door, and Kingsley Shacklebolt entered with Bill Weasley close on his heels. After the usual greetings had been exchanged, Sirius disappeared off upstairs with a wave. Not being involved directly with missions very often was still difficult for him, and while Remus privately felt that Sirius' capabilities were being wasted and that the continued confinement was bad for him, the security of the Order was of paramount importance. Interrupting the train of thought, he felt Tonks lean in close to his back and murmur into his ear as they followed Bill and Kingsley into the kitchen. "No one else's business, hm?"

It would have been better if he hadn't said anything, far better, because saying that it was no one else's business implied that there was _something_ , and whatever it was between them would never get that far, because he didn't deserve her. It was foolish to pretend otherwise. Even so, he couldn't help his response, because it was honest and he didn't have time to overthink it. "No one's but ours," he said, quietly, heard her surprised intake of breath before an impatient clearing of Moody's throat put an end to their exchange. They entered the kitchen and closed the door behind them, and the planning began.

***

After half an hour of hammering out the details, it was decided that Kingsley and Bill would go immediately to check on Dolohov, but were instructed to stay completely out of sight. Remus and Tonks, however, were left with Moody to figure out the best method for dealing with Rowle using their particular skillsets. As former Defence professor and werewolf, veteran Auror and metamorphmagus sat around the kitchen table, the level of focus directed towards the matter at hand could be felt tangibly in the air.

"We need to establish how Rowle spends his evenings, and what sort of patterns he tends to follow." Mad-Eye's growling tone had done nothing to dissuade the attention of Tonks, her eyes focused on her mentor as he spoke. "The only way that we're going to do that is if the two of you literally nail yourselves to his backside." 

"Lovely mental image," muttered Tonks, subsiding when Moody continued, "That means either you hide by his last known bolt-hole and watch until he twitches wrong, or you follow him by any means necessary. If the latter, then one of you will need to stay hidden, the other out in the open."

Remus spoke quietly. "You mean Tonks will be out in the open as a potential target, and I'll follow unseen." There was logic to it; Tonks was the only member of the Order who could effectively still be invisible while still remaining in reasonable proximity to Rowle, and placing her in a stealth position would concentrate on her weakest area instead of playing to her strengths. He didn't like the idea of her being so exposed to possible threat, but he also knew what she was capable of. The odds of others seeing through her chosen disguise once it was applied were incredibly low, particularly if she opted for one that didn't fit her current profile. She could quite easily become unrecognisable with very little effort. "What will our move be if he acquires company?"

It was Tonks that answered him, though her brows drew together in a frown as she did so. "The situation doesn't change unless we hear information that needs to be acted upon immediately. At that point, one of us would need to contact the Order while the other kept an eye on things." It was a possible flaw in the plan, because it meant that either someone would be left alone, or their method of communication ran the risk of exposing them. "I know ways around us needing to separate for that, but they take time to apply and I'm not sure how much time we're going to have."

A curious glance followed Tonks' assertion; Remus had been thinking of the possibility of creating a rough map of the area and spelling it to behave similarly to the Marauder's Map temporarily, but evidently she had something rather different in mind if it was designed for a straightforward method of communication. She continued, answering the query. "I've enchanted objects that I can wear before, for specific missions in relation to coordinates and surface area. It takes time and it's not easy to do, the charm requires repetition to strengthen the bond of the object with the wearer."

"And it's draining to do that, which is not ideal for a short-term mission?" Remus asked, suspecting that he had guessed correctly before he had received confirmation. Tonks' appreciative nod was a clear answer, but she also added, "That, and we'd have to decide which of us would be wearing or carrying said object, and our back-up plan if that failed."

Mad-Eye, who had been watching their exchange for the most part in silence, offering only the occasional rumble of agreement as his contribution, chose that moment to speak again. "Watch him for a week or two. If it threatens to go on for longer than that, then that's a solution to the problem, and the two of you will be able to decide who is better to cast that charm." He lifted an eyebrow at Tonks. "We'll also need to consider what to do while you're on late-night duty." He shifted his gaze to Remus. "And how to handle this at full moon, if it goes on that long."

Remus had known that Tonks had been on late-night duty, sent from place to place and pillar to post with little to no notice, but had yet to hear of the reason why. He didn't flinch at the mention of the full moon, met Moody's gaze evenly and nodded, conceding the practicality of such an assertion. He kept his face carefully neutral in a way that he'd learned over time. _No fear, no bravery, only stillness._ By comparison, Tonks' expression had hardened slightly, the flinty edge of it in her eyes like splinters of ice, more than able to clash wills even with Alastor Moody if need be and emerge the victor, though Remus didn't think the older Auror was going to argue with her assessments. "We don't have any other options. I'll either have to do both or I'll have to figure out a way for us to work around it. The same for the moon. Voldemort's recruiting further afield than we originally imagined, or he's at least trying. And the Dementors certainly aren't going to play by the rules if they're offered alternatives. I've seen proof enough of that."

It didn't take much for Remus to figure out from there why Tonks had been sent abroad. The possibility of Voldemort recruiting from other countries had always been a spectral possibility in the past, but now the attempts were becoming reality. However, it was her mention of Dementors that caught his attention, as pieces began to slot into place in his head. Her trembling uncertainty of the other evening. If she'd been dealing with Dementors more often, it stood to reason that it would be all too easy to slip into darker places in her head, perhaps take her longer to recover once removed from immediate proximity, if it had been long-term. What did she see, when the world tunnelled and the lingering despair of their presence clung to her like fog? _Why did she come to me?_

Rather than voice his thoughts, Remus simply watched as Tonks continued, "At any rate, if this goes on as long as full moon, we'll need to introduce other means of watching him while we find those warehouses. The question is how much mayhem he's capable of causing without being actively present at the location himself. That's the first thing we need to find out."

"I'll leave the pair of you to it, then," Moody said, rising from his seat with a scraping _shreeeek_ noise of wooden leg against wooden floor. "Seems you've got this well-handled. Make the decisions between you, just don't let him spot what you're doing under any circumstances."

"So in other words, think espionage, not sit with a cuppa and a game of Exploding Snap on the doorstep to get his attention?" Tonks' words drew a narrow-eyed gaze from her mentor, causing her to spread her hands wide in a gesture of innocence. "I know, I know, I'm taking it seriously." Remus had to work hard to hide a smile behind his hand, and he saw a muscle in Moody's jaw twitch, indicating that even he wasn't fully immune.

"Mind your cheek, Tonks."

"Both buttocks still on so far, Mad-Eye," she quipped in return. "So I'd say I've been minding my cheek fairly well."

Remus couldn't contain the grin at that, his previous effort to do so wasted. "I think she has you there, Alastor."

"She usually does," Mad-Eye grumbled, though there was an amused note to the complaint. "Figure it out, and when you get back, write down everything you can remember in terms of details between you and then get some sleep once the sun's up. I'll account for things at the Ministry if need be." Leaning on his staff, the older man headed for the door, closing it surprisingly quietly behind him, leaving Remus and Tonks facing each other across the table.

"Dementors?" he asked.

"Dementors," Tonks confirmed. "Not fun."

"I gathered that from the state of you the other night," he said quietly. "I'm not going to ask what they made you see or if there was more to it, but next time, tell me if you think you're likely to encounter them?" Remus saw her eyes flash at the apparent reproval, and clarified himself. "Only so that I can be your safety net. I told you before to wake me if I was needed after a mission, yet that was the only time you've done it. No one should be alone, after dealing with that. It...doesn't help." That he spoke from experience was obvious, something that he didn't elaborate upon any further. There were things he couldn't tell her yet, might be able to tell her in the future, her and no other. That thought caught him by surprise, but Remus kept his eyes on Tonks' face, watched her expression soften slightly. Her fingertips reached out and touched to the inside of his wrist as she spoke. "I don't like waking you. You get little enough rest as it is."

"And I'll get even less if I'm worrying about you." The words slipped out before Remus could stop them, a thing that only seemed to happen around her; words were the thing that he could usually weigh and balance, consciously control, but adding the unknown variable of her responses, the fact that he cared about her responses quite a bit complicated everything. He added, with an edge of humour in his voice, "Besides, you didn't finish your reading last time that you were at my house." Only after he had spoken did he realise how much he had, yet again, unintentionally given away. That he had noticed what she was reading. That he had noticed the difference between his house empty and his house with her in it. That he wanted her to come again, not merely to finish her book. _Damn. Suave, Lupin._

Meanwhile, Tonks' lips had curved into a smile, this one carrying just a trace of shyness. "I'd quite like to finish it, if I'd be allowed? On one of our days off?"

 _Merlin, I couldn't have possibly put my foot in things this badly if I'd tried to do it on purpose. I want her there, and she knows, she **must** know or she wouldn't phrase it like that._ "Perhaps another time, yes." The tone wasn't dismissive, but Remus was ruffled and it showed. Was she asking, or...?

"Only if I'm welcome, of course. I wouldn't want to impose." And that was uncertainty in her voice that said her question had actually very little to do with reading and everything to do with his company, only Merlin knew why; a slight pulling back of the touch to his wrist telegraphing that note of worry further, and was it any wonder? He was a mess of mixed signals and thoughts that he knew he shouldn't have been having but _was_ having regardless. Thoughts that let him wonder what it would be like, letting her in further than he already had. Firmly silencing that part of his brain - _there's nothing wrong with having a friend over to visit_ \- Remus' reply was quiet and accompanied by a smile, a conscious paraphrase of something that she had told him weeks ago, sat in her flat after Chinese food. "It's not imposing if you're invited, Tonks."

Watching her eyes turn from confused to undeniable warmth left him wanting to absorb that look, keep it focused upon him for as long as possible. For tonight, they had their mission, but later, when it was just them, the quiet and the turning of the pages, disguises laid aside, it would be far better. "We'd best get going," he said. "The sooner we leave..." The words trailed off. Tonks helpfully filled in the gap. "The sooner we get to come back here and write the bedamned report of every time our target so much as inhaled and exhaled this evening? You're right. I can hardly wait."

"Yes, that." Thoroughly amused, Remus stood. "Decide on disguise once we're nearer the area?"

"Have one in mind," Tonks replied, rising to her feet and stretching lazily, narrowly missing knocking a tray off the nearby counter. "Come on then. Let's put the boots on and get it done, at least for tonight."

As the two of them entered the hallway, Remus quite conclusively decided that he was in trouble, that these feelings could bring no good to either of them. And yet...

No. He couldn't afford to lose focus like this, nor let Sirius' earlier remarks about intentions fluster him. _No distractions._


	2. Slow Progress

Thorfinn Rowle apparently hadn't been idle, during the time in which Remus and Tonks had been obliged to watch him, two weeks in which there had been little helpful intel obtained because they simply couldn't get any closer to find out what was happening. All that they could do was maintain their distance and wait for him to slip up. That he had known that he was under observation was unlikely, given the amount of effort that they had made not to be detected during the course of their surveillance, but he'd proven himself remarkably careful in spite of that. His caution told Tonks more about the man than she had previously known, confirming for certain that he was someone who quite certainly needed to be watched, because anyone that careful wasn't up to something harmless. If it was related to the conundrum of the illegal potions warehouses, they needed to know sooner rather than later.

In large part, that particular trait was the reason that Tonks was in her current position, strolling down a crowded street in the midst of London with a handbag thrown over her arm and a long spill of mousey brown hair scattered over her shoulders, a slightly unkempt suit with sensible shoes. She looked like every other Muggle businesswoman currently in a hurry to commute home after a long day of work. There was no reason that Rowle would spot her. Somewhere in the crowd, out of her line of vision, she knew that Remus was following from a much more careful distance, hidden by a well-placed Disillusionment charm. 

When Rowle had begun to walk towards the train station, it had been a good enough cover for Tonks to be able to follow him in disguise and nothing more. In fact, she was more than a little irked by the man's brazen approach. Several nights of watching him from a crumbling, abandoned house, tiptoeing around the general area and spending time with Remus trying to figure out exactly what he was up to, and he had the gall to attend to some of his business right out in the open. In a Muggle train station, no less, it seemed, though how that was going to work, she wasn't sure. He hadn't noticed her thus far, and she needed to take care to keep it that way even as she tried to puzzle out his motivations. _What's your game, Rowle?_

The answer didn't soon become clear; to all outward appearances, he was doing nothing more than going to catch a train. Not even slipping through to Platform 9 ¾, as he might have done, but staying resolutely among the throngs of Muggles. Though Tonks wasn't close enough to catch his expression, she could see by the way he moved that he was trying unsuccessfully not to brush against any of them, distaste to the tight posture of his shoulders. It made her mouth pull thin, lips pressed together, and she dropped her eyes to check the watch at her wrist. _Need to figure out which platform that he's heading for if this exercise is going to be of any use._ As if in answer to the thought, she saw Rowle turn at the call of a train arriving at platform two. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two other figures headed in the same direction, one somewhat further behind. _Outnumbered if it came to a fight and they spotted me. They shouldn't, though. Doubt they'd risk it somewhere this exposed, even so._

The momentary catch didn't register in her expression, still focused on making it appear as though she was someone running late for a train. Timing it carefully, she managed to interrupt the slower man's trajectory on the way to the same platform as Rowle, colliding with him. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" The apologetic, shy tone suggested a much trampled upon, stressed out woman, and she could see the moment where Rowle turned around to see what was keeping his other companion. It took only that split second for her to identify the man she'd intercepted as Yaxley, another Death Eater. "Watch where you're going," was the gruff response, and he shouldered his way past her without a second glance. Even as he did so, she calculated the best method to bring him down, her mind running the queries and the likelihood of success if needed automatically. _Strike to base of the neck to temporarily disable, kick to the back of his knees, Stunning Spell?_ Though he didn't quite have to break into a jog in order to get to where he needed to be, he did have to walk more quickly, making him easier to track. Tonks' peripheral vision identified the fact that the other gentleman who had joined Rowle was looking impatient, nervous to the point of-

 _He's clutching a briefcase. What's he got in there?_ Quickly, her mind catalogued as many of the additional person's features as possible, committing them to memory, but her interest was in the contents of what he held. Rowle and Yaxley stood on either side of him, but there was no sign of him handing the briefcase over. Instead, the three men walked towards the platform and got on the newly arrived train, moving out of easy view.

 _Oh for Merlin's sake._ Wondering if she could make it look convincing, as though she suddenly also needed to catch the same train, the hum of thought was halted when Tonks felt something brush her sleeve. _Aha._ Though she was relatively certain that Remus had caught up with her, she moved nonetheless, letting her wand barely edge out of its wrist sheath and brush her fingertips. Just in case.

It was confirmed by low words in her ear. "Don't try to follow, they'll notice you. Let's clear out quickly and quietly, and get back to headquarters."

Gritting her teeth briefly in not entirely manufactured irritation, agreeing nonetheless that he was likely correct, Tonks moved in a different direction, as though she'd missed the train and was now going to look for an alternative means of transport. This was in fact the case, but as most Muggles would have headed for the underground, she didn't. Instead, she walked out of King's Cross Station, past St Pancras and towards the British Library. There was an Apparition point nearby, well-hidden enough from view that Remus would be able to remove the Disillusionment charm before they went back to Grimmauld Place. If she strained her ears, she could hear the faint pad of his footfalls, less careful now that they were outdoors, with any multitude of natural sounds to account for the additional hint of noise. Even so, she didn't glance behind her, concentrated on reaching the Apparition point and then spoke quietly once he reappeared. "Who do you think the other fellow was?"

"The one with the briefcase? Not sure," Remus replied, voice faintly terse, blue eyes snapping with more than a hint of the vexation she herself was feeling. "I daresay we'll be able to put a name to him soon enough. I assume you kept the details firmly in mind."

"Naturally," Tonks replied, before adding, "Best we continue this once we arrive."

When she received a nod of agreement, she disappeared from the Apparition point, reappearing a few streets from Grimmauld. He chose a different location, and they met halfway, walking towards their destination, only speaking again once they were actually through the door and it shut securely behind them.

The conversation picked up again even as Tonks unfastened the buttons on the business jacket that wasn't anywhere near as warm as her cloak. Her hair flowed effortlessly into a short style of deep turquoise and her face resettled into its usual appearance as she hung the jacket on one of the hooks affixed to the wall. "I was surprised to see Yaxley out and about so openly in Rowle's company, though I note that you weren't."

"Yaxley and I are old acquaintances." There was a chilling note to the words that Tonks had only rarely heard from Remus, and she resisted the reflexive urge to rub the backs of her arms as though the temperature had literally dropped. Regardless of how mild-mannered and polite he was, she didn't let herself forget that he was also a formidable duellist, amongst his other abilities. Remus wasn't to be underestimated, even if others made that mistake. "I know something of how he operates; he managed to evade Azkaban because of it." The coldness faded, but only for him to fix his gaze on Tonks. "Be happy it wasn't Dolohov, with how you drew his attention."

"Dolohov's still trying to lie low, to the best of my knowledge, if the reports from Bill and Kingsley are anything to go by. I could have lost him in the crowd," she pointed out. "And I wasn't sure of where you were, which is the flaw in the Disillusionment charm when it's used without additional equipment to indicate coordinates and locations. I didn't have many options to make sure that I could see him, but since he wasn't subtle about ploughing his way through gatherings of people, it made him easier to watch."

Remus' next observation was astringent, close to acid. "He's never been much for subtlety."

"I'm aware." The sharpness of his voice was making her edgy, and Tonks took him firmly by the arm and drew him into the lounge, closed the door behind them. "All right. What's got you so rattled? Rowle didn't make you react like this. Why Yaxley?"

"Rowle's a tactician in terms of administrative matters, but he tends to lose his head when actually in battle and just throws spells at random. Aim isn't the best. Yaxley's more for brute force in the up close and personal fashion, and you put yourself directly in his way. And Dolohov likes to toy with women specifically." There was a slight flash to blue eyes that told Tonks that there was more to it, but she knew enough not to press him. Remus would tell her when he felt ready to do so. In the meantime, she could only respond to his concerns, though there was a slight edge to her voice as she did so. "Yes, because it was the most efficient way to make sure I could track which platform they were heading for. He's distinctive, but I didn't have a bird's-eye view from above. I know what he's capable of, but it was a necessary risk calculated, not a reckless decision."

The explanation seemed to satisfy Remus, who fell quiet briefly before he spoke again, weariness in his gaze transmitting itself without need for translation. "I'm sorry, Tonks. It was the only decision you could have made, given the strategy we were obliged to use." When Tonks responded, her voice was low, the minor tension between them fading. "It's all right. I'm as frustrated as you are that we didn't get any further tonight after how long we've been watching the bastard, and we're both worn out. But we have more to go on than we did before. We've found out they have a contact, and it's only a matter of time before we can identify him." Lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose in a useless attempt to ward off a headache, she exhaled a sigh. "This is looking more like a long-term mission than the few weeks we originally predicted, so we need to make the time to start enchanting our chosen objects for location purposes."

Remus nodded in agreement. "We also need a blueprint of King's Cross," he mused. "If I can get hold of one that's good enough, I might even be able to do a few things to it that will assist us." Tonks knew that her curiosity was transmitted through her expression, because he let out a quiet, rusty-sounding laugh when he noticed it. "You know Mad-Eye has me on the maps, and I've some practice in enchanting the things as well. A blueprint can be helpful as a starting point, and if the visits to the train station turn out to be on the regular, it'll be to our advantage to know every corner of the place inside out."

"Might want to get one of St Pancras, too," Tonks said, considering the matter. "It'd be nothing for them to slip between stations, given how close together they are. And I think we'd better be careful keeping an eye on watching the underground entrance nearby as well."

"We'll do that next," Remus said decisively. "Will probably mean a visit to the National Archives, but I can see to that." Pausing, lifting his wrist to check his watch, he shook his head. "Tomorrow. Definitely tomorrow." With a suddenly boyish grin that she'd only rarely seen, he added, "It'd be fun to break in, but we should probably do it the mostly legal way this time."

Tonks couldn't help but grin in response. "Careful, Remus, you're only adding to the tally of things that I could feasibly arrest you for, you know." The tease was a frequent one at this point, and watching his eyes dance with mischief, she rather thought that she was being given a glimpse of what he might have been like when he was younger.

"No arresting me until I've had some tea and some sleep," he shot back. "Hold off until tomorrow morning, at least?" Gentle fingers caught her elbow, his other hand opening the lounge door. He drew her instead into the kitchen, and Tonks dropped gratefully into a chair, closing her eyes and listening to the soft, oddly comforting clatter of the cups as he arranged tea. To call it _routine_ or _habit_ seemed presumptuous, and yet what else was it when they sat and drank tea and talked late into the night with such frequency? And once or twice, they'd sat on the sofa in the lounge and she'd fallen asleep leaning against his shoulder, woken disoriented to find the light of the fire had dimmed to embers and his eyes were closed in sleep as well. 

And then, there had been the other nights they'd fallen asleep together, far more closely, the night that Tonks had slept in his bed in a small house on the Yorkshire moors. They'd managed to wrap themselves around each other while they slept; while Tonks had dozed off with her back to his chest, when she woke their legs were tangled together and Remus' arms were still around her. She couldn't recall sleeping that well in a very long time, suspected that the same might have been true of him. Wistfully, she replayed the memory in her thoughts; it had been exactly what she needed, and the day that had followed had done much to settle her into a more peaceful state of mind. It had been new intimacy, as well, left unspoken like so much else between them, but undeniably present.

When she opened her eyes, it was because he'd touched fingers to her shoulder. Remus was looking at her with obvious concern, but she shook her head with a smile. "Sorry, must be more tired than I thought." After a moment's pause, she admitted, "Still not sleeping so well, with Dementor duty and all. Not here or at my flat, really." What Tonks didn't say was that she'd woken up in the middle of the night and hexed her own dressing gown after a nightmare, because it had cast an odd shadow in her bedroom at the flat. The scorch mark where it had been hanging on the door was still there, something that Tonks still needed to sort out. What she also didn't say was that she had refused the option of Dreamless Sleep, knew quite well that it could become addictive and had no desire to fall into that trap in case she needed it far more later.

The offer that came next seemed to surprise Remus as much as it surprised her to hear him say it, leading her to suspect that he hadn't intended to verbalise it. "You're always welcome at the house if you need somewhere else to go."

Tonks could only account for tiredness influencing her to make the slip that she did next. "And you're always welcome at mine, if you want somewhere to go too." Leaning up, she brushed her lips to his cheek, then turned her attention back to the tea that had at some point been placed in front of her without fully registering what she'd done. She heard him clear his throat, the low softness of his voice when he next spoke. "Is this another of those things that I should file under the umbrella of ‘no one's business but ours'?" The question startled her, causing her eyes to snap to his face, which held the smallest amount of colour. "Only I think it might be noticed," he clarified, shifting slightly in his seat. "And not all of the Order think favourably of werewolves or trust my allegiances, though most don't comment outright. I wouldn't like to invite the same towards you by association."

Hot indignation was Tonks' first reaction, but it cooled quickly at the carefulness of his words, the way that he was trying so hard not to break anything, and she knew that there was only one way to handle the situation. "I trust you. Sod them," she said bluntly. " _Especially_ those who can't mind their own bloody business. Anyone who doesn't like it can bugger off. Clear enough for you?"

Apparently, yes, it was, and she would have said the words again and again just to watch the way that Remus' face relaxed and his shoulders loosened. "Really though, Tonks. Don't endure such a thing for my sake, should it happen. Not among the Order, or any other company for that matter."

Reaching out a hand, she poked him in the ribs. "I'm not enduring anything for your sake, Remus Lupin, because quite frankly I won't put up with it. The first person to start in with me concerning you will get a quick lesson in why they shouldn't, and they won't repeat the error." Though her words were light, her lips thinned and as far as she was concerned, that was the end of the matter. There was surprise written into his expression, and so she added, "Really, Remus. You know better than to think I'll let anyone bad-mouth you. I don't share a bed with someone I don't value."

That, that was possibly the step too far, or so Tonks had thought, had instead dared another glance at him to find him watching her closely, a small smile on his lips. "Speaking of bed, we ought to sleep soon," he said, voice faintly hoarse, telling that yes, he really was getting tired, they both were. "Yeah," she conceded with a yawn, trying to ignore the relief that he'd chosen not to make more of the unintended revelation. "I'm knackered and I don't imagine you're doing much better. Returning to business, though, we'll need to run through the details of what we did tonight in the morning."

"We could do it over breakfast, if you like?" _That_ made her blink, not sure she'd heard right. _He probably meant breakfast at Grimmauld._

"That is, we don't have to crash in the same place again tonight in order to do so, but we could meet at one of the haunts in London, I know a place…"

Tonks' mouth, once again, operated without her full consent. "Well, we could." _Merlin._ "If you're willing to share the sheets." _I'm tired. I'm laughably crap at flirting on purpose. Figures that I manage to do it by accident._

"No, Tonks, no sheets for you." The teasing note had returned to Remus' voice, and gave her enough pause to wonder _is he flirting back_ before she gathered the brains to respond and decided that pretence was pointless. "Well, you made a good bed-warmer, no one likes cold blankets. Coming?" Rising to her feet and rinsing her tea mug out before heading for the kitchen door, she turned around to find him watching her, expression amused, and arched an eyebrow. "Well?"

At the prompt, Remus rose to his feet and rinsed his own mug before following her, touching a palm lightly to the small of her back. "Bed-warmer, really?" The contact was steadying and his words lilted out on a chuckle, but sparks followed from where his fingers rested that left her to conclude ruefully that yes, it was difficult not to react to him in other ways. That he didn't strictly need to touch her either didn't escape her notice, but Tonks chose not to draw attention to it. "Yep. My place or yours?" she asked, still tired, not considering the double-meaning until the moment had passed. _Christ, I'm on a roll._ "You know what I mean," she clarified, lifting a hand to rub at her eyes.

"Yours is nearer and more convenient to headquarters for the morning." Remus' words were careful, as though he was giving her a chance to back out. _That's exactly what it is_ , she realised. That would never do. 

"All right, then. Best get outside so we can apparate."

As they pulled on cloaks and closed the front door behind them, it occurred to Tonks that she rather enjoyed the experience of surprising Remus. Even if she was tired down to her bones and watching Rowle wasn't going to plan, there was still this, the quiet promise of the man beside her and the small tendrils of _something_ still building between them.

Wars had been fought for less, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the long delay in the production of this chapter! I had a lot of material to whittle down, but decided it'd be better to split it into multiple chapters, so it took me a lot longer to re-work than originally planned. Hope that someone enjoys it, some quite definite ass-kicking to come.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is, once again, in the nature of an experiment and an attempt to fill in some of the gaps that we don't get to see in Remus and Tonks' relationship. The awkward developing stage of their feelings for one another, the space between not quite and something more is my favourite thing to explore; however, I also believe that they have incredible respect for each other in their working relationship as well. Hopefully over the course of the next few chapters, I'll be able to demonstrate this for anyone who has enjoyed reading this introductory bit of writing.
> 
> Final note: the main fic title comes from a line in T.S. Eliot's _The Hollow Men_.


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